Dongba Illustration from the Naxi People

Qing dynasty (1644�1911) or Republican period (1912�1949), undated, 1930s or earlier

Illustration of Deities and Demons

2 linen panels stitched together to form 1 panel; unmounted; approx. 102.0 x 62.0 cm

Inventory number: 111 bao-1

Naxi beliefs grew out of the shamanistic Bon religion of pre-Buddhist Tibet; they also were incorporated elements of Daoism and Tibetan Buddhism.� The dongba (priests) imitate Bon monks in dress and action; they are often also accomplished shamans, medicine men, scholars, artists, craftsmen, dancers, and singers.� The Naxi believe that their dead proceed automatically and directly to hell.� The souls of the deceased must therefore be led back out from the infernal depths toward heaven by the dongba or ritual specialists during the performance of elaborate funerary rites; pictorial illustrations are an integral part of� these rituals.

This Illustration of Deities and Demons is divided into four registers.� The topmost contains a triad of benevolent deities within a celestial realm.� The seated and haloed principal deity in the second register is flanked by a scribe and a demon holding a banner containing an ambiguous phrase in Chinese characters, shan e fei ming, which may be translated as "good and evil cannot be discerned" or "good and evil are not [necessarily] clear"; a winged serpent and a winged dragonlike beast hover at the upper corners.� The third register has five animal-headed, human-bodied creatures portrayed in a stylized stance.� The lowermost register shows a pair of human figures perched above flames and accompanied by two horses.� Such a picture probably would have been hung during religious ceremonies conducted by the dongba and rolled up after each use.